Craig Hill Media and Consulting
Defence
Britain could miss out on crazy, pointless war with China, says important American
Cuts to Britain’s armed forces mean the country will be ‘left on the sidelines’ when America invades China. Robert Gates, former US defence secretary, stressed that Britain would no longer be America’s ‘full crazy partner in war’. He said: “Your military will be dropping food from its only helicopter while the US Marines are surging … Continue reading
Australian helicopters used in ’70s massacres in West Papua
Research into one of the most violent episodes in the history of West Papua claims that helicopters provided to Indonesia by the Australian government were used in military operations in the 1970s that amounted to genocide. According to a report by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission, two Iroquois helicopters supplied by Australia were … Continue reading
Australia neglects militarisation of Antarctica by foreign powers, including China
Australian academics have pointed to dangers that Antarctic bases are for the first time being militarised, despite the continent officially being called a land of peace and science. Satellite systems at polar bases could be used to control offensive weapons, according to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and little could be done … Continue reading
Australia backs Japan’s military buildup at risk of upsetting China
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop threw Australia’s support behind Japan’s attempts to shift its military to a more “normal” defence posture in a speech in Tokyo yesterday. Australia’s backing for Japan’s proposed move away from a purely defensive military runs the risk of sparking resentment in China, which retains deep suspicion of the hawkish Abe … Continue reading
Australia’s defence forces must gear up for South China Sea, says expert
Naval tensions over territorial disputes in northeast Asia and the South China Sea are nearing the dangerous point where serious incidents or armed conflict could become inevitable, one of Australia‘s most respected strategists says. Paul Dibb, key architect of the defence of Australia strategy, will warn in a speech to a naval conference this week … Continue reading
Sex-for-secrets spy scandal prompts Australian navy inquiry
A company that services US warships when they visit Australian ports has been accused of providing prostitutes to an American naval commander in return for secret intelligence on US naval movements to extort money from the US Seventh Fleet. The Royal Australian Navy is investigating whether the alleged bribery and prostitution scam has had an … Continue reading
Australia cuts defence force anti-terrorist unit
The anti-terrorism protection force at some of Australia’s key military bases is to be slashed, as the Defence Department struggles to find budget savings. Australian Protective Service officers will be taken off guard duty at Victoria Barracks in Melbourne, Sydney’s Holsworthy Barracks, the navy’s Garden Island base and the army’s officer training college at Duntroon … Continue reading
Australia’s military takes over border protection; SAS commander in charge
Deputy Chief of Army Angus Campbell will be named Tony Abbott‘s three-star military commander of border protection, with the job of co-ordinating the new government’s tough asylum-seeker policies. The former SAS commander and deputy National Security Adviser has emerged as Defence’s choice to head up the 16 departments and agencies under the Coalition’s Operation Sovereign … Continue reading
Australian soldiers said to have cut off dead Afghan’s hands
Australian elite special forces soldiers are being investigated over claims they cut the hands off at least one Afghan insurgent’s body to identify him by his fingerprints. A ”potential misconduct” investigation against members of the Special Operations Task Group centres on claims that soldiers amputated the hands and took them back to their base to … Continue reading
US drops bombs on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef during exercises
Authorities are yet to decide whether they will recover four unarmed bombs dropped onto the Great Barrier Reef during military exercises. Two of the bombs did not contain explosives and the other two were without their fusing mechanisms. US warplanes were forced to drop the bombs after they ran dangerously low on fuel during a … Continue reading
Australia needs to prepare offensive cyber capabilities
Australians under attack in some future war may be able to call in cyber specialists able to infect an enemy aircraft with a Trojan horse virus and force it to land or to crash, its pilot helpless to intervene. That’s one reason, says national security specialist Des Ball, that Australia needs to develop its own … Continue reading
Serious abuse at Australian Defence Academy alarms government
Claims of serious abuse at the Australian Defence Force Academy and HMAS Leeuwin naval base are “more widespread and persistent” than previously reported, a high-level inquiry has found. In an interim report, the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce, headed by retired judge Len Roberts-Smith, found that abuse was evident at other recruit schools and training institutions … Continue reading
Australian military police stop Afghan prisoner transfers because of mistreatment
Military police at Australia‘s detention centre in Afghanistan were pressured to make prisoners more “pliable” by gagging them, depriving them of sleep and denying them exercise. Sources with first-hand knowledge of the detention centre at Tarin Kowt have said that senior officers from Australia’s special forces, as well as the “force exploitation team” – defence … Continue reading
Australian frigate joins US Navy in East China Sea mission
An Australian Navy frigate joined the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet on Monday for a three-month embed, the latest example of tightening links during a time of heightened tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. The modified Perry-class frigate HMAS Sydney is now docked at Yokosuka’s naval harbour, where its 217-member crew will prepare for a patrol as … Continue reading
China dismisses Australia’s defence white paper, says it changes nothing
China has warned that Labor’s new white paper is a political document unlikely to bring major changes to Canberra‘s defence strategy or alter Australia’s position in the Asia-Pacific region. Han Feng, a deputy director at the China Academy of Social Science, a think tank closely linked to the Communist Party and government, said the paper … Continue reading
New Australian defence white paper fails to recognise China as any threat whatsoever
Asia is a potentially turbulent region, yet Australia has no sensible defence strategy. For more than 40 years Australia has been able to assume that it is a secure country in a peaceful region. That has kept its defence needs low and defence budget modest. Now Asia is changing fast, and the old assumptions no … Continue reading
US Senator John McCain slams Australia’s defence cuts as ‘imprudent’
Powerful US senator John McCain has criticised the Gillard government for cutting the Australian defence budget. In an interview in his Washington Senate office, Mr McCain told The Weekend Australian that “it is not prudent” for Canberra to cut its defence budget so heavily. Last year the Gillard government cut defence spending by 10 per … Continue reading
Australia won’t be drawn into ‘mythical’ US-China war says defence consultant
The view that war between the US and China is inevitable and that Australia will be drawn into such a conflict is a dangerous miscalculation, says defence white paper author Paul Dibb. The comments to be made tonight by Mr Dibb will follow those by Julia Gillard, who yesterday deplored “false modesty” in our relationship … Continue reading
U.S. marines based in Australia will cost $1.6 billion
Infrastructure costing an estimated $1.6 billion will need to be built in Northern Australia to accommodate a fully-equipped, 2500-strong US Marines task force due in Darwin in about 2016. And it is not clear yet who will foot the bill to accommodate the potent and self-contained Marines Air Ground Task Group, which will come to … Continue reading
Australian soldier accused over deaths of unarmed Iraqis
A decorated Australian soldier was embroiled in a secret war- crimes investigation after two former high ranking US military officials accused him of ordering the killing of unarmed men during the invasion of Iraq. Fairfax Media has uncovered the extraordinary allegations directed against then army warrant officer Joe Day, who was on an exchange with … Continue reading
Australian Prime Minister strengthens military alliance with China, ignores 2009 report of threat
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard today will unveil a 10-year plan to tighten Australia’s embrace of China, flagging three-nation military exercises to include the US and more Chinese investment in Australia. The declaration comes as Canberra and Beijing have clinched a deal for an annual meeting mechanism between the Australian prime minister and the Chinese … Continue reading
Many Afghans held by Australian troops are falsely accused
More than half the almost 1900 Afghans detained by Australian forces in Oruzgan may have been innocents falsely accused by local enemies , according to the province’s chief of police, Matiullah Khan. They were named so their enemies could gain advantages in tribal, business or personal disputes. Asked about the numbers first put forward by … Continue reading
Japanese technology could improve Australia’s Collins-class submarines
The navy has set its sights on sophisticated new Japanese technology to extensively rebuild its troubled Collins-class submarines and extend their operational lives by 10 years or more. That could postpone the spending of an estimated $40 billion to build the 12 new submarines the Gillard government has promised to replace the Collins-class boats. Japan … Continue reading
Defence force chief confirms death of two Afghan boys involved Australian soldiers
Defence force chief General David Hurley has offered his condolences to the families of two boys, aged seven and eight, killed during an incident involving Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. It is alleged Australian soldiers were responsible, but General Hurley says it is “premature” to determine how the incident occurred or who was responsible. Defence is … Continue reading
June 13 2012 China Daily Mail Headlines
Forced abortion in China on woman seven months pregnant Posted by China Daily Mail ⋅ June 13, 2012 ⋅ 4 Comments Graphic images posted online showing the bloody corpse of a baby whose mother was allegedly forced to terminate her pregnancy at seven months have caused an uproar in China. Rights groups say authorities in north … Continue reading
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